Mail-cart.



K. G. BARRON.

MAIL CART.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 1914.

Patented Mar. 2, 1915.,

2 SHEETk-SHEET 1.

THE NORRIS PETERS C0 PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTUN. D. C.

K. G. BARRON.

MAIL CART. APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 1914.

Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEBT 2.

Ji- GHBa rran/ ne I flttomwg "HE NORRIS PETERS C0,; PHOTO-LlfI-ICL.WASHINGTON. D. C.

' KATHRINE Gr. BABBON, 0E IEABIBAUL'I, MINNESOTA.

MAIL-CART.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

Application filed May 26, 1914. Serial No. 841,125.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KATHRINE G. BAR- RON, citizen of the United States,residing at Faribault, in the county of Rice and State of Minnesota,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Carts, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to mail carts and has as its object to provide acart adapted especially to be employed by letter carriers in thedelivery of mail matter.

The object of the invention is to overcom the disadvantages arising fromthe use of mail sacks, such for example, as the loss of mail from thesacks while being carried and the inconvenience experienced in carryingthe heavily filled sacks as is now necessary. Another disadvantagearising from the use of the ordinary mail sack lies in the fact that itis frequently necessary for the carrier to remove one or more bundles ofmail matter from the sack in order to secure the next bundle to bedistributed. It is customary for the carrier to arrange the mail matterto be distributed along certain groups of streets or over certain areasin separate bundles. and these bundles are placed in the mail sackusually in a promiscuous manner and without any identification meanswhatsoever to indicate to the carrier the streets or areas over whichthe different packages are to be delivered. It is therefore one aim ofthe present invention to provide a mail cart so constructed that it maybe conveniently pushed about from place to place and so arranged thatthe several bundles of the mail matter may be placed in separatecompartments, each compartment being arranged to contain the mail matterto be distributed over a certain area, so that if the compartments aresystematically used, the carrier can always readily determine in justwhat compartment the package is contained which is next to bedistributed.

Another aim of the invention is to so mount the cart that it may bereadily turned about in a small space and will, in itself, be compactand convenient to move about.

A feature of the invention resides in a novel construction of supportingframe for the body of the cart.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the cartembodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinalsectional view therethrough. Fig.3 is a bottom plan view. Fig. 4 is avertical transverse section on the line l-l of Fig. 2. 7

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the'followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawingsby the same reference characters.

In the drawings the cart is illustrated as mounted upon a wheeledsupporting frame and this frame includes a horizontally disposedsubstantially U-shaped body, the sides of which are indicated by thenumeral 1 and the arched rear end by the numeral 2,the sides beingpreferably parallel as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Asquared axle 3 is secured to the under side of the side members 1 andprojects at'its ends beyond the side members and has mounted upon itssaid ends supporting wheels 4 which are of such diameter as to supportthe frame the desired distance above the ground surface. A hearingbracket substantially V-shaped in form and including arms 5 is disposedagainst the under side of the frame at the rear'end thereof and has theforward ends of its arms secured, as at 6, to the sides 1 approximatelyat the juncture of these sides with the connecting portion 2. Thebracket is provided with a relatively wide flange 7 at the juncture ofthe rear ends of its arms 5 and this flange rests against the under sideof the connecting portion 2 in the manner shown in Figs. 2 and 30f thedrawings. The flange 7 is provided with an integral bearing sleeve 8rearwardly displaced with respect thereto and extending below the planethere-- of, the bearing sleeve being braced by means of an integral web9. A yoke bearing 10 is provided at its upper end with a stem 11fittingrotatably within the sleeve bearing 8 and held in place by meansof a nut 12 threaded upon its upper end and bearing upon the upper endof the sleeve. A caster wheel 13 has its spindle 14 j ournaled in thelower end of the yoke bearing and it'will be apparent that this casterwheel spports the connecting portion 2 or, in other words, the

rear end of the supporting frame for the body. In order that the casterwheel may be of relatively small diameter so that the cart may be morereadily turned in a' small space and in order to support the body of thecart at the desired elevation, supporting blocks 15 are secured uponeach of the side memhers 1 of the supporting frame in front to rearalinement and are located one above the axle 3 and the other rearwardlyof the said axle.

The body of the cart is of hollow rectangular construction and for themost part is preferably formed from sheet metal. The sides of the bodyare indicated by the numoral 16, the top being indicated by the numeral17 and the bottom by the numeral 18. The bottom is preferably, althoughnot necessarily, of wood and is secured in any suitable manner betweenthe lower edges of the sides 16. The top 17 is formed in two partsspaced from the transverse middle of the top of the body and these partsof course extend transversely between the upper edges of the sides 16.The rear section of the top is provided with a depending transverselyextending flange 19 and the forward section of the top is provided atits forward edge with a horizontal flange 20, these flanges beingpreferably reinforced by transversely extending cleats 21.

It is contemplated that a compartment shall be provided at the middle ofthe cart for the purpose of receiving packages and other mail matter toobulky to be disposed within the other smaller compartments, which willbe presently described, and to this end the cart body is dividedtransversely by partitions 22 which are vertically disposed and whichextend beneath the rear and forward edges respectively of the front andrear sections .of the top, these partitions of course extending from theedges of the said sections to the bottom 18 of the body. Thiscompartment is indicated in general by the numeral 23.

In order that the package receiving compartment 23 may be closed and thepackages contained therein protected from the elements, the compartmentis provided with a closure comprising two sections, one indicated by thenumeral 24: and the other by the numeral 25, these sections being hingedrespectively at their rear and forward edges, as at 26, to the edges ofthe sections 17 and being provided at their sides with depending flanges27 which lie immediately inwardly of the sides of the body when the topsections are in closed position. The lateral edges of the closuresections 24 and 25 project a short distance beyond the flanges 27 andwhen the sections are in closed position, these projecting lateral edgesrest upon the upper edges of the sides 16. The free edge of one of thesections, for example, the one indicated by the numeral 25, is arrangedto overlap the corresponding edge of the other section so as to excluderain, and the said section 25 is provided with a knob or other suitablehandle 28, whereby it may be swung open. It will be apparent that whenthe sections comprising the closure are in open position, they will restupon the top sections 17 and consequently be out of the way and freeaccess may be had to the compartment 23 for the introduction and removalof mail matter. In front and in rear of the front and rear partitions22, the body of the cart is provided with horizontally disposedpartitions 29 and the spaces above and below these partitions aredivided by vertically disposed partitions 30 arranged in the front torear median line of the body. The partitions 22, 29 and 30, inconnection with the bottom 18 and top sections 17, divide the front andrear end portions of the body into drawer receiving compartments,indicated in general by the numeral 31 within each of which there isarranged a drawer 32 preferably of sheet metal and provided with theusual sides, closed rear end, and front, the latter being indicated bythe numeral 33 and projecting at its edge portions beyond the planes ofthe top, sides and bottom of the drawer, whereby to rest against theouter edges of the partitions 29 and 30, the flanges 19 and 20, as thecase may be and the forward or rear end edges of the bottom 18.

It will now be apparent that not only is there provided a compartmentarranged to receive packages and the larger pieces of mail matter butalso a number of drawers to receive bundles of letters and the like, andit will be obvious that if these bundles, after being assorted at thepost ofiice, are placed by the carrier in a systematic manner in thedrawers, he will at all times know which bundle is next to be opened andthe pieces of mail matter comprising the same distributed. In order thatthe drawers may be held against accidental displacement, as for example,when the cart is being moved up hill .or down hill, each drawer isprovided upon its front 23 with a turn latch 34, the latches upon theupper drawers being arranged to engage with the lower edges of theflanges 19 or 20, as the case may be, and the latches upon the lowerdrawers being arranged to engage behind strips secured to the outeredges of the partitions 29. Of course, if desired, each drawer may beprovided with a lock to be opened by a key carried by the carrier sothat the cart may be left standing with safety while the carrier isdistributing the mail matter.

By reference to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, it will be observed thatthe axle 3 is located forwardly of the transverse middle of the cartbody and that the caster wheel 13 is located rearwardly of thetransverse middle of the body so that the body is supported in such amanner that there will be no tendency for it to tilt forwardly orrearwardly and yet it may be swung about or turned in a relatively smallspace.

In order that the cart may be readily pushed about from place to place apair of handles 36 are mounted upon the flange 19.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a cart of the class described, a wheeled supporting frame, a bodymounted upon the frame and divided by transverse partitions located oneforwardly and the other rearwardly of its transverse middle to provide apackage receiving compartment, a plurality of drawers mounted in theends of the body, and a closure for the first-mentioned compartmentcomprising door sections hinged at the top of the compartment andarranged when in closed position to overlap the edges of the sides ofthe body, the said door sections being arranged at their free edges tooverlap when in closed position.

2. In a cart of the class described, a wheeled supporting frame,-a bodymounted upon the frame and including a top comprising sections spacedfrom the transverse middle of the top of the body, partitions dividingthe body transversely beneath the adjacent edges of the said topsections and forming a compartment, and a closure for the compartmentcomprising door sections hinged to the adjacent edges of the said topsections and having their free edges overlapped.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

KATHRINE G. BARRON. [L. s.] Witnesses:

ARCHER YOUNG, STEPHEN JEWETT.

7 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, I). G.

